Osama

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT OSAMA - PAGE 2

The U.S. military said Wednesday that a "renewed sense of urgency" is firing the search for Osama bin Laden, even as it dismissed reports that the fugitive Al Qaeda leader had been located near the Afghan-Pakistan border. The new impetus comes amid plans to provide security to the lawless regions outside the capital, Kabul, before national elections planned for June. President Hamid Karzai also suggested an unprecedented move that could promote peace, saying he would consider talks with a former Taliban leader to promote reconciliation with less extreme elements of the former regime.

Ever since President Bush declared Osama bin Laden "Wanted: dead or alive" for allegedly ordering the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. forces have been bracing for the moment the Al Qaeda leader falls into their hands. After last week's capture of top lieutenant Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Pakistan, that day could be close. But even as finding bin Laden would mark a great victory in the war on terrorism, the options for dealing with him are fraught with legal, military and political peril.

When the FBI released its Most Wanted Terrorists list last week, America's most infamous terrorist stared from a black and white photo under the name "Usama bin Laden." Captions under the photo from The New York Times and Associated Press identified the man as "Osama bin Laden." So which is it? Actually, it's more complicated than you think. Elsewhere, bin Laden has been referred to Usamah bin Laden and one of his 54 half-siblings, Abdullah Mohammed Binladin, has said the majority the family uses "Binladin."

At this point in life (56), you search around for all kinds of things. So lunchtime a few days ago carried me to an outdoor eating experience with three friends who had gathered to discuss God. That was where I concluded that I could, indeed, murder someone in cold blood. I am not kidding. It was hot as hell out there, and so one of my friends decided I could sit in the full sun and just suffer while he and his comfortable buddies lunched in relative shade. I am an Irish-German person equipped with a thin layer of fat to protect me from the cold.